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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23679445">All we see is darkness (and all we feel is pain)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account'>orphan_account</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Voltron: Legendary Defender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Keith is a badass, Pangst, Pidge Angst, Pidge Whump, Pidge gets hurt, but I also love angst, hunk is capable, i love pidge, involuntary memory extraction, lance is like a brother, shiro is still missing lol</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 16:00:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,205</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23679445</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The Paladins get captured and once escaping the cell, need to split up. When Pidge’s end of the escape isn’t met- Keith goes off to see if she’s okay.</p><p>It’s a good thing he showed up, too.</p><p>*ONE SHOT*</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>95</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>All we see is darkness (and all we feel is pain)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Takes place early season 3!!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Unwilling.</p><p>That was the word Coran had used when describing the process that would give them Sendak’s memories.</p><p>It had never been attempted on an unwilling participant.</p><p>And they never even finished, because the castle’s virus caused Shiro to eject Sendak’s pod into space.</p><p>So the paladins were locked up in a cell on Sendak’s new ship, attempting to escape. All because a simple infiltration mission backfired horribly.</p><p>“The Galra are smart! If they were to accidentally lock themselves in a cell, they’d have some way to get out!” Lance had pressed again.</p><p>“Lance, they’re smart enough to not get locked in their own cells in the first place,” Keith retorted, standing firm with his arms crossed.</p><p>“Shut up! I’m trying to rewire this panel but your yelling might as well be distracting the entire prison!” Pidge yelled, flicking two wires against each other until they sparked.</p><p>“You guys have fun with that, I’m going to stay in this corner over here where it’s safe and I’m not going to start panicking because this is fine-” Hunk rambled, rapidly moving his hands as he spoke- a sign of stress in the yellow paladin. “Oh god, guys please stop arguing, Pidge, what’s your status on the panel?”</p><p>“Almost done, just have to input commands to send through the new system I just rigged up,” She responded, tapping away at the holo screen on her gauntlet. “And- finished!” the girl chimed, tapping a button and watching with satisfaction as the door slid away.</p><p>Keith and Lance stopped arguing and quickly exited the cell, followed by Hunk. Pidge hopped out, and opened the map she had previously downloaded, scanning for the best escape route they could take without running into too much difficulty.</p><p>“Okay, first issue- our bayards and helmets are spread out. I’m going to configure a route for each of us, and we’re going to need to seperate. If they catch us getting one bayard, they’ll hold onto the others, so we have to be careful about this,” Pidge spoke.</p><p>“Woah wait- what’s the second issue then?” Hunk asked nervously.</p><p>“Second issue is that the bayards and helmets are going to be… difficult to get. It looks like they’re locked in some sort of energy cage. But, my bayard and helmet is being stored just down the hall from the  control center. I can hack in and disable the energy cages long enough for us to get them and get out,” She explained.</p><p>“Okay- bet I can get to where my bayard is located first!” Lance cheered, dashing into a hallway on the left.</p><p>“Pidge- be careful,” Keith nodded before heading down a different hallway. Pidge swallowed down a lump in her throat, dashing through a corridor. She glanced at the map, ducking behind a pillar at the sound of footsteps.</p><p>“Sendak is going to pay us well for capturing the paladins,” one of the guards spoke, eliciting a chuckle from the second guard. They continued down the hallway, not noticing Pidge’s small form pressed against the wall.</p><p>She exhaled, peering around the corner and listening for footsteps. When she heard nothing, she darted for the control room. Upon entering, she noticed the lack of guard. Either Sendak was really understaffed, or the ship was on its night cycle.</p><p>Probably the latter.</p><p>She plugged in the computer to her gauntlet and began typing away at the blue screen, breaking through firewalls and entering the database.</p><p>“What do we have here?” A deep voice mused. Pidge stopped, goosebumps rising along her back. She turned towards the voice, hand prepared to throw a punch. Sendak stood before her- his tall form bulked up by his new prosthetic. “Hm, the green paladin. I assume that it is you I have to blame for your escape?”</p><p>“Oh fuck off, it’s not like your ship’s mainframe is child’s play,” Pidge retorted, forcing all panic out of her tone. They beat him before but they were a team at that point- and now she was alone and unable to contact her team.</p><p>In other words, she was pretty much screwed.</p><p>“Then upgrade them,” Sendak’s lips tugged into a smile, and Pidge cocked her eyebrow. There was no way that she would even think about improving anything for the Galra Empire, and they knew this. </p><p>“Like I’d ever help you. Aren’t you supposed to be some super advanced species? Because I’d think you have better engineers than some teenager from a planet whose technological advancements are far less developed than yours- really?” She insulted, carefully scanning her surroundings in an attempt to find any possible exits.</p><p>“What makes you think you’ll be willingly helping us?” The Galran officer responded. Pidge froze, her breath hitching. She knew that she was stubborn, she knew that even if they forced her she wouldn’t do it. So that begged the question of what exactly Sendak was going to do to her.</p><p>She inhaled, struggling to regain her composure. She told herself to breathe, and took a step back. Pidge felt the cool metal of the control panel brush against her lower spine, and shuddered at the touch.</p><p>Sendak’s arm lunged for her, and she charged forward, ducking beneath his legs. She picked up a blaster that was carelessly resting on a shelf and took a shot.</p><p>She was not as good as Lance or Hunk with a gun, in fact her aim wasn’t even close to being as precise as she would have liked. With a yelp, she avoided another hit from the Galran.</p><p>She aimed again, this time taking a few seconds to ensure it would hit something. Pressing the trigger, she watched as the beam bounced off of Sendak’s armor and hit a chair.</p><p>Scratch pretty much- she was utterly screwed.</p><p>At this point, she hadn’t realized her position in the room. She was pressed into the corner, holding a weapon she was absolutely terrible at using, accompanied by a giant Galran soldier with a vendetta against Voltron.</p><p>A large hand reached for her, but there was nowhere for her to run now. It scooped her up, and she fought aimlessly to lessen the tight grip it held around her torso.</p><p>“Little paladin, don’t try to fight. It’s only amusing for me to watch,” Sendak grinned, watching with satisfaction as Pidge’s wild limbs slowed before coming to a halt.</p><p>If she could let him believe she was losing her intimacy, he’d probably carelessly put her down at some point- and that’d be her chance to strike.</p><p>His grip didn’t slacken as he exited the control room, and walked down the long corridor. She caught sight of her bayard and helmet- twitching because she had failed the team.</p><p>God, they needed her and she failed them.</p><p>His hand tightened around her and her breath hitched- the prospect of dragging in oxygen becoming harder from how tight she was being held.</p><p>They entered a large room. There were multiple pods that had a similar appearance and stature to the Castle’s cryo-rejuvenators. Each pod had an empty cylinder latched to the side, numerous tubes and wires linking the two empty containers together.</p><p>She was tossed to the ground, and Pidge coughed- and took her chance to escape. She stood and ran, dodging Sendak’s legs and entering the hallway. She made a mad dash back to the control room, in a desperate last attempt to shut down the power. She knew that with Sendak after her, Pidge’s chances of getting to her own bayard were extremely slim- but the rest of the team could get theirs and save her.</p><p>Probably.</p><p>She felt something hit her back and she fell, doubling over in pain. A string of warmth began gushing from where she had been hit, and she was suddenly more aware of the pulsing pain that emanated from it.</p><p>“Paladin of Green- why do you try to run?” Sendak cackled, hoisting her up carelessly and pressing her against the metal walls. </p><p>“You- you fucking monster,” Pidge coughed, weakly kicking in any attempt to hit Sendak- but of course it did nothing.</p><p>“Ah, well it’s time for you to aid the Galra Empire. Your cooperation will make this.. far less painful,” He responded.</p><p>“Ha- what’cha gonna do? Torture me?” Pidge grinned wickedly. “Because that sounds weak, all your ‘you’ll work for us’ mumbo jumbo goes to show how little you know about Voltron- for starters, I don’t help the enemy,” </p><p>“I am aware,” Sendak smirked, dragging Pidge back down the corridor and opening one of the pods. He pushed her in, and Pidge felt tired.</p><p>Just seconds ago she felt as if she could kick somebody’s ass and then run a few laps around the Castle- why was she suddenly passing out from exhaustion? </p><p>Darkness consumed her vision and she found herself in a deeper sleep than she had ever experienced, unable to awaken from the frigid slumber.</p><p>Even though she was in a deep state, she could feel restraints wrap around her wrists and ankles, slithering around her chest and throat as well. The darkness was eerie, and she didn’t like it.</p><p>“How would you design weapons that could harm Voltron?” Sendak’s voice prodded into her mind. Involuntarily, her brain thought of the answer- and with an excruciating fight between body and mind, she felt the information being literally ripped from her mind.</p><p>If she could scream, she would have been writhing on the ground in absolute agony, tears spilling from her eyes as her body convulsed in pain.</p><p>She didn’t know how long this was going on, but her body felt cold with fear and dread. It was getting hard to breathe, and her mind was pounding. Every time the voice asked her a question, the noise echoed and doubled the pain in the back of her head.</p><p>So much information had been taken from her against her will, and she didn’t like it. In fact- it was one of the most painful experiences she’d ever felt. </p><p>“Fuck. Pidge, are you okay?” She heard a familiar voice ask. Keith.</p><p>His voice did nothing to help her headache, and she wanted to cry as the sharpness of the probe seeking answers ripped away a part of her thoughts. </p><p>She became aware of something wet dripping down her cheek, and realized that she had somehow cried through the slumbering state.</p><p>Something was going on outside, but Pidge couldn’t move. She was frozen in place, crying from the pain that enveloped her senses.</p><p>“I’m gonna get you out of there,” Keith calmly spoke, and she heard a gentle hum of electricity, and suddenly the restraints that held her in her dazed state were gone, and she was toppling forward.</p><p>The pain from what she had just endured crashed down, and doubled. Whatever that machine had dosed her with had been numbing the pain- and now she felt like dying.</p><p>She screamed, back arching and she felt so lost. Her mind was swimming and her thoughts blended, her ability to coherently think floating further away from her grasp with each pounding pulse of pain.</p><p>“What did he do to you-“ Keith muttered, glancing at the pod. Through tears, Pidge opened her eyes and nearly convulsed from the bright purple lights. The glass cylinder that was next to the pod she was just in was full of floating green and blue orbs, darting around with curious intent.</p><p>She whimpered in pain, attempting to turn but stopped as the simple thought of trying to move hurt her head.</p><p>Was that how Sendak felt when they were extracting his memories at the castle? God- she hoped so. That monster deserved the pain, and more.</p><p>She heard footsteps, and winced at how loud they sounded. </p><p>With another surge of pain, she whined and wondered where Sendak had gone. Did Keith fight him? Kill him?</p><p>It hurt to think.</p><p>“Pidge!” Hunk yelled, and she cried out at his voice. It was overbearingly loud, and felt like a hammer brought down on her skull. </p><p>Keith soon joined him and kneeled down next to her form, surveying her body in silence for injuries. Upon finding the wound on her spine, he hoisted her up and headed for the control room.</p><p>“Hunk can you override the system and turn off the energy cages, I’ll grab Pidge’s stuff and then get mine. You should try and get yours too,” Keith spoke. It was like knives in Pidge’s head, and all she could respond with was a pained moan.</p><p>She assumed Hunk nodded as she heard the footsteps grow further away, and then minutes later the ship’s power turned off with a sputtering gasp. Keith jostled her a bit, picking up her bayard and helmet.</p><p>The bayard evaporated into Pidge’s holster, and he placed the helmet over her head, starting to run off to pick up his own belongings. Hunk joined them, and they met up with Lance.</p><p>“Ay- diós mio-“ Lance gasped, taking one look at Pidge and reaching for her. Keith let go, and Lance gently held her close, whispering soft promises of comfort.</p><p>“Sh..uddup..” Pidge mumbled, biting back a cry of pain as the stabbing feeling in her head amplified. “...’urts,”</p><p>The pain seared, and Pidge passed out.</p>
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